WHY HIRE AN ATTORNEY TO ASSIST WITH THE START OF YOUR NEW BUSINESS?

The best time to hire a business attorney is in the planning stages of starting your business. Hiring the right business attorney at such an early stage will help you:

Startup right the first time.

Setting up a business is complex, especially for first-time business owners. Hiring an attorney experienced in setting up businesses will give you the confidence of knowing you are making the best decisions for your business and that you have not forgotten a step along the way.

Save time and effort.

Your time never more valuable than during the organizational stage of a business startup. Hiring an attorney to take care of all the necessary filings will save you hundreds of hours of online research and reading "how to" books on starting a new business, allowing you to focus your attention on the details of the products or services of your new business.

Start making money faster.

The organizational stage of starting a business costs money, and this money is not recovered until your doors open and your products or services start selling. Doing everything right the first time and saving time and effort with the help of an experienced attorney will get your business through the organizational stage and into operations faster than going it alone, giving you the chance to start making money with your business sooner rather than later.

A LITTLE NOW OR A LOT LATER;
YOU WILL NEED AN ATTORNEY ONE DAY.

You are no doubt familiar with the old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Being smart about how you set up your business today may prevent much larger expenses down the road.

Protect yourself from your business partners.

Informal relationships among business partners are the most significant risk to the success of your business. While there is a cost involved in establishing business relationships in written, signed contracts enforceable in a court of law, this expense is small compared to the cost of litigating a business dispute.

Protect yourself from your workers.

Aside from your business partners, the employees and independent contractors who will work for your business are the greatest threat to the success of your business. Well defined rules for your workers may be established in employee handbooks and contracts. These documents make it more difficult for a worker to sue you for wrongful termination or other claims.

Separating personal and business assets.

It is impossible to plan for and prevent every potential source of liability which could be imposed against your business, and there is no substitute for good business insurance. If a source of liability should arise outside the scope of or in excess of insurance coverage, having a limited liability business entity in place may separate your personal assets from the assets of the business. The business may take a severe financial hit, but your personal assets will not.

THE SERVICES OF AN ATTORNEY VERSUS DOCUMENTS FROM ONLINE SERVICES.

Some business owners recognize the need for legal documents and assistance, but think they can replace the services of an attorney (and save a little money) by using non-attorney websites. Consider this:

Continuing service and support.

Online document preparation sites will not provide you with the personalized service and support an attorney. Is calling an "800" number and talking to someone in "customer service" with no legal experience a part of your business plan? Insist upon the expertise of a business attorney.

One size does not fit all.

Your needs and the needs of your business are unique. No two businesses, even in the same industry, are identical. Generic legal documents written to apply to every industry may not be ideal for your specific business. The only way to ensure the documents upon which you rely relying are right for your business is to consult an attorney.

Cost versus value.

There is no denying that generic legal documents will cost less than attorney drafted documents. In some cases, significantly less. The only question is, are the generic documents worth the price being charged for them? Spending your money on something that is incomplete or legally ineffectual is a wastes your money. When it is time to rely upon a document, whether in court, with investors, or in front of clients, there is no substitute for attorney-drafted documents.